A Delightful Lesson In Kidom
by DelightfulChild
Summary: When the Delightful Children go to Sector V for a lesson on how to behave more like 'normal' children do, in an attempt to secretly gain an advantage over the bothersome operatives, they get much more than they bargained for. Because is Sector V really all that normal either?


Authors Note: Hey everybody! First off, I want to apologize for not uploading anything for awhile ^^; My summer was pretty busy with trying to complete two virtual school courses, but I promise I haven't lost my interest in writing, and so I wrote a really lengthy and quite Delightful one-shot to make up for it! A LOT of time went into this one, I worked very hard on it! ^^ . It's inspired by a little ramble someone posted on tumblr awhile back. Oh and if anyone's wondering, the video game is loosely based on the game 'Rampage'. So without further ado, Read and Review, for nice reviews are always appreciated! And of course, Enjoy! :)

A Delightful Lesson in Kidom

Several fingers drummed idly and almost nervously against the bumpy, rubber material that seated 5 children in the wide, vaguely woody smelling briefing room of the treehouse. The sound of boots clopping relentlessly against the smooth wooden floorboards below filled the air of the room. Their wearer, a bald, red turtleneck sweater sporting child with thick black sunglasses perched on his button shaped nose. Abruptly, the child stopped his pacing, causing his listeners to snap to attention.

The bald child grinned in excitement as he tapped a broken ruler with the tip of the pencil wound around the end in sticky gray tape. The sticky adhesive bound the once whole writing implement to the numbered base of the ruler, being smacked a few times for added emphasis against a rolling black board with many childish doodles in chalk covering its black face.

"Okay! Now one more time, blowing bubbles in your milk is a very childish thing to do, and a great way to annoy adults too when your bored by mealtime conversation, you simply put your straw in whatever your drinking and blow air through your straw! Any questions? Hmm? Hmm?"Numbuh 1, the illustrious leader of Kids Next Door, Sector V spoke with enough enthusiasm that could lead to one to thinking that he had just been given free reign of an entire candy store.

5 pairs of hands went up into the air with the slightest bit of reluctance, but the over-excited operative didn't even notice that. "Yes?!"He spoke with a wide grin, clasping his hands together after setting his makeshift pointer down. "Ummm, what purpose does that activity serve aside from irritating your parents Nigel?"The Delightful Children from down the Lane chorused as they lowered their hands, mentally worn out from this extensive 'lesson on why being a kid was great', from an all too eager Numbuh 1. That was certainly beginning to feel like an eternity to the unison speaking children, when in reality it had only lasted close to 1 hour at max, but the Delightfuls feared that the operative could extend his lecture far longer than that if given the opportunity. And they were seriously considering bolting from the room when the opportunity was given.

Coming to the treehouse since they had free time today and asking the Kids Next Door on knowledge on how to well, behave like normal children, so as to possibly gain knowledge on how to beat the ill behaved brats in the future, was proving more and more to be a very big error on their part.

Sure they didn't mention their true motive when they arrived and had to deal with the suspicious sector at first, had indeed proven to be tricky in assuring them that they had no ill will. And when their useable reason for showing up in the first place escaped their lips they had immediately been dragged into the briefing room by a very enthusiastic Nigel Uno and the lecture had immediately begun.

In fact, they hadn't seen any of the rest of the team since. Forced to endure an endless ramble on everything childish, from how to properly swing on playground swings to what toys children liked to play with.

Numbuh 1's throat clearing brought them back to reality as the sector leader prepared to answer their question. "I'm glad you asked Delightful Children, blowing bubbles in your drink not only provides a stop to whatever boring thing someone is talking about but it also speeds up mealtime so you can get to dessert faster. Plus it's a highly amusing activity!"Numbuh 1 answered informatively , then picked it back up and expertly maneuvered his pointer over to a chalk drawing of a child flying a kite.

"So moving on, I will now explain the proper way to fly a kite, something a lot of children enjoy doing in parks or playgrounds"Numbuh 1 spoke brightly as he began to launch into another highly informative ramble. The Delightful Children sighed inwardly as Numbuh 1 began running around in circles, something that they would've gotten a chuckle out of if their ears hadn't been talked off for this long, managing to tune the operative out as his voice faded slightly into the background.

"Psst! Psst!"A voice suddenly reached their eardrums, coming from the edge of the briefing room and causing their 5 heads to turn to the side in curiosity. Numbuh 3 stood near the edge of the splintering doorway, motioning at them to come over with her green sleeve covered hand. "Delightful Children, come here!"She whispered more loudly than the 5 children would've liked and they quickly glanced over at Nigel, who seemed far too immersed in his lecture to notice thankfully, they looked back over at Kuki, who was still motioning for them to come over to her. "Cmon, while he's distracted!"Numbuh 3 whispered. The Delightful Children shrugged slightly, maybe Kuki would have something more interesting to tell them, not that Nigel's speech wasn't informative enough, they just seriously needed a break from non-stop chatter, lest they develop migraines.

They glanced up at the operative one more time before slowly slipping out of the tire table seat and climbing up onto the floor, flinching as their feet creaked against the wooden boards. But much to their relief Nigel didn't even notice, they then quietly strode across the floor as quickly as the situation would permit and nearly sprinted once they reached the door frame. Kuki grinned in glee and immediately grabbed Bruce's pale hand in her own green sleeve covered one and began yanking the child down the hallway, causing the rest of the Delightfuls to bolt forward to keep up with the black haired operatives exuberance. "Cmon guys! I've got lots of fun stuff to show you!"The operative giggled as she led the nervous Delightfuls to their next destination.

A few minutes later the Delightfuls found themselves in the excitable Asian operatives bedroom, they frowned slightly as they swore they could feel the stuffed animals , that were piled almost wall high and taking up nearly every inch of the floor space the room possessed , staring at them with their felt or brightly hued button eyes, even though this wasn't possible of course, due to the fact that the brightly colored plushies were inanimate objects after all, but their quantity did little to lessen the unervingness of it all. Their speculations however, were halted by Kuki's voice. "So, do you guys want one lump or two?"She inquired in her chipper voice, holding up a bowl heaped with grainy white sugar cubes.

The 5 goody goody children blinked collectively, oh right, they were having a tea party. They were currently sitting bunched together in small white chairs at the end of matching white table, flowery table cloth obscuring most of the view of the tabletop. Their gazes flicked over together to the end of the table where Kuki was sitting, earnestly awaiting their response. They held back a collective shudder at the few stuffed animals that were also seated around the table, bearing wide grins and stitched on smiles, teacups filled to the brim with lightly steaming tea already inside sitting infront of each of them, theirs were empty however, as Kuki had yet to pour them some, as she had immediately busied herself with setting everything up once she had dragged them in here, apparently tea party opportunity's with other children wasn't an every day occurrence from what they could gather.

They swallowed softly in unison and formulated their response in their hive mind. "One is fine Kuki"They droned politely, frowning faintly, they weren't upset however, for a small frown was normally displayed on their pale features whenever they spoke to other children. When they were in a calm mood of course. Numbuh 3 giggled and plucked 5 sugar cubes out of the bowl and set them in the Delightfuls cups, each one hitting the bottom of the porcelain cups with a small 'chink' sound. She smiled as she lifted up a matching white teapot, slight wisps of steam coming out of the curved spout, and indication that the beverage was still very hot. She leaned forward once more and carefully poured some into the teacups, filling each to nearly the brim, the sugar cubes disappearing as the amber colored drink took up the remaining capacity of the cups, small ripples forming in Bruce's tea cup as the last bit dripped out of the spout, the teapot now emptied.

Numbuh 3 smiled brightly as she withdrew the teapot and set it down in the center of the table. The Delightfuls looked down at their steaming teacups, small wisps of steam coming off the tops.

Ogie blinked a few times as her glasses began to fog up. The braid sporting Delightful removed her circular framed glasses and gingerly wiped them off on her sailor suit, barely noticable bits of condensation now clinging to the soft material as she promptly placed them back on her face, a smile ghosting along her lips at having unobstructed vision once more. The 5 children looked back up to see that Kuki was now giving them a rather quizzical look. "Well go on, try it sillies!"She encouraged, her coal colored eyes seeming to shine with friendliness, despite the Delightful Children's not so friendly status in their organization.

The Delightful Children blinked collectively, sighing softly as they picked up their teacups, hooking their fingers around the little curly handle and extending their pinky fingers as they lightly blew on the surface of the warm liquid to cool it, pausing with their lips still parted as their pale blue eyes flicked upwards at a smattering of giggles that erupted from the end of the table. Numbuh 3 had her hands cupped over her mouth in attempt to suppress her giggles but lowered them as she noticed the 5 children were now staring at her quizzically. She smiled broadly, "Are you sure you guys haven't been to tea party before? You even know how to drink it all fancy and everything!"She spoke approvingly, letting out another little giggle. The Delightfuls frowned as they straightened their postures to look straight at her properly, though their pale fingers remained curled around their teacup handles as they did so.

"Well...we sometimes have tea and sandwiches in the afternoon, though we wouldn't really call it a party so to speak.."The goody goody children trailed off as they raised the cups to their lips, blowing lightly across the surface of the liquid to cool it faster and allow a sip. They tilted the cups up slightly, lightly sipping at the warm, sweetened liquid, the sugar cubes hadn't stood a chance against the tea it seemed. The Delightfuls hummed softly as they took a few appreciative swallows of it, and before they knew it, their teacups were almost completely empty. Numbuh 3 meanwhile, appeared to be deep in thought, one green sleeve covered hand rubbing up underneath her chin as she stared upwards, a frown slowly spreading across her face as she looked over at the Delightful Children, placing her hand back down on the table. "You mean, you guys never have any guests or anything?"The happy go lucky operative spoke in a pitying manner, briefly guesting over to the various stuffed animals that sat in the rest of the chairs lined up along the little table.

The DC frowned together as they pulled their teacups away, looking down at the remainder of the tea, now lukewarm from exposure to the air. They slightly sloshed it around by slightly moving their hands, lightly drumming their fingers along the slick sides, dotted with condensation and observing the traces of tea grounds that had settled to the bottom of the cups as they formulated a response to black haired child's observation in their hive mind. "No...it's not really a big deal though Kuki, don't let it bother you.."The Delightfuls chimed, their eyes focused on the sloshing tea in the bottom of the cups, though it was more of an idle fixation to avoid making eye contact with the operative. Numbuh 3 frowned, her gaze turning to her left where a rainbow monkey plush sat. "Well that's just sad! Wouldn't you agree Happy Teatime Rainbow Monkey?"Numbuh 3 spoke as she scooped the stuffed animal up into her arms. It was a cream colored Rainbow Monkey and a light pink colored hat with a small white daisy on it sewn around the trademark rainbow that bobbed above its head and a little plastic teacup sewn to its paw.

The Delightfuls blinked inquisitively as they continued to absentmindedly slosh their tea around in their cups as Numbuh 3 nodded as if the plushie had actually responded to her inquiry. "That's a great idea!"Kuki giggled as she looked up. "What is Kuki?"The DC dared to question, arching their eyebrows above their glassy light blue eyes. "Happy Teatime Rainbow Monkey thinks that we should share some of my friends with you guys so you can have tea parties too of course!"Numbuh 3 giggled as she climbed out of her chair and practically skipped across the room to a fluffy mountain of stuffed animals that sat nearby.

"Huhh?"The Delightfuls droned out in obvious confusion, their eyebrows arching further as they slowly set their teacups down and followed her brisk movements, slowly turning in their chairs. Their confusion was addressed as Numbuh 3 enthusiastically scooped up an armful of plushies, each one painted with her respective numbuh on their stomachs, and then going over to the 5 children.  
"Here you go!"She giggled as she pushed the plushies into their arms, causing the goody goody children to yelp in confusion as they gripped the plushies, their faux fur tickling their chins and causing them to sneeze in unison and sniff slightly as they attempted to object to the kind, but not necessarily needed gesture. "Well umm...Kuki this is quite nice of you but we don't really-"They were cut off however as Kuki let out an excited squeal and clapped her hands together with muted smacks due to her cottony sleeves.

"Ooo! I think I have another Happy Teatime Rainbow Monkey that you guys can borrow too!"She excitedly exclaimed as she began to literally scale the already unstable tower of stuffed animals, causing a few to fall down and harmlessly bop the Delightfuls on the head, causing them to collectively flick with each fuzzy assault. The looked up with widened eyes as the fluffy tower began to shudder as Numbuh 3 got closer to the top. "Umm..Kuki it's going to collapse if you go any higher, maybe you should climb back down now..."The Delightfuls suggested, an underlying urgency in their monotone now as they collectively bit their lips, which was met by carefree giggles from the climbing operative.

"Oh it's alright guys, besides, I'm almost to the top!"Numbuh 3 called from above as she spotted the rainbow monkey she sought, perched atop the very top of the shuddering mountain. "Well were not quite sure.."The Delightfuls called back, trailing off as the mountain began shaking and their worries were confirmed as it capsized before them, causing Kuki to cry out in surprise as an avalanche of brightly colored plushies spilled forward towards them, as they watched on like deers caught in headlights. Their common sense finally kicked into gear with the acknowledgment that they would be buried by the incoming wave if they didn't get out of the way in the next 5 seconds as a domino effect began to occur as the other mountains shook and also began to topple over inwards to where they were sitting.

They managed to force themselves to move out of their chairs with panicked shouts of "AIIEEEEE!" Discarding the plushies they were already holding and bolting together across the bedroom, narrowly avoiding stray stuffed animals that were falling from the massive stuffed-alanche and diving out of the bedroom just as each pile hit the floor with a great muted rumble. They gasped as they skidded to a stop to avoid a head on collision with the surely unforgiving wooden wall of the treehouse hallway. The 5 children's shoulders sagged as they panted in unison and fought to restore air to their lungs as they took deep breaths, this only lasted a few moments or so as they managed to get their breathing under control long enough to turn back around to see what had become of Kuki. They walked back over to the door frame, halfway blocked by an assortment of rainbow colored plushies that had spilled over. They strained to hear the slightest noise as they leaned forward, feeling the slightest concern begin to build inside them but was immediately diminished as they heard the excited shout of "Yay! Do that again!"From inside the bedroom.

The Delightfuls sighed in relief, smiling weakly as they turned back around, satisfied with knowing that the exuberant operative had survived that whole irregular ordeal, though they vaguely wondered if things like that always happened around here as they began to wander down the hallway, their shoes thumping softly against the hardwood floorboards in perfect synchronization as they walked, searching for another resident of the treehouse.

Fortunately enough their search did not last long for as soon as they prepared to round the hallway corner a crinkled thunk sound could be heard on the other side, almost as if a potato chip bag had been dropped, followed by an unhappy proclamation of "Aww, man!". The Delightfuls arched their eyebrows at the familiar voice as they completed their trek around the corner and were met by the sight of Numbuh 2, unsuccessfully trying to retrieve a bag of chips that he had indeed dropped. The reason for his struggle though, was due to the fact his arms were already loaded up to carrying capacity, boxes of cookies and packs of juice boxes and another similar bag of chips that were flavored differently than the ones he had accidentally dropped.

After a few moments of silent contemplation on how to address the situation they cleared their throats politely to make their presences known. Numbuh 2 yelped in surprise as he stumbled backwards and in the process, dropped the box of cookies, the side of the package they were contained in now slightly dented with the impact on the hard wooden floor. The 2x4 tech. Officer then blinked a few times behind his yellow pilot goggles and gave the 5 children a sheepish smile. "Oh, hey guys"He stammered in embarrassment as he quickly scooped up the cookies and walked closer, trying his luck once more at retrieving his chips, to no obvious avail. The Delightfuls sighed in annoyance as Bruce bent down and easily picked up the chips. Numbuh 2 blinked once more and gave another sheepish smile. "Ohh, right, thanks"He spoke with a light chuckle, trying to remember why the Delightfuls were here in the first place, their arrival earlier had been pretty hectic up until the point his all too eager sector had dragged them off to undoubtedly give them one of his long winded speeches.

"Oh, are you guys still wondering about what kinds of things other kids do?"Numbuh 2 questioned, holding back a few chuckles. The Delightful Children grimaced suddenly. "Your not going to give us a speech are you Hoagie?"They droned out in wary monotone, frowning in obvious worry. Numbuh 2 allowed a laugh to pass his lips as he stiffly waved his hand in dismissal. "Naww, I'm not really the kind of guy that likes giving speeches, that's more of Numbuh 1's thing"He chuckled, his laugh wavering as he noticed a sudden brightness of obvious relief briefly pass through the Delightfuls normally dim eyes, though it quickly faded as they allowed small nods. The pilot shook his head slightly then sighed as his laughter died down and he drummed along the side of the cookie box. "Hey, I could probably show you guys some video games that we like to play if you want"The operative offered with a grin. The Delightfuls hummed as they thought the offer over, then gave small nods. "That would be most informal"They chimed in agreement. Numbuh 2 nodded, the flaps on either side of his trademark pilots hat swaying slightly with the motion. "Great! Follow me guys!"He declared as he motioned for the curious quintet to follow him. The 6 children heading down the hallway together toward their next destination.

Several minutes later the Delightfuls found themselves locked in a fast paced battle of strength in an, annoyingly enough, fighting based video game. Bruce quickly spun the joystick around on his makeshift 2x4 technology game controller he currently held, narrowly avoiding an uppercut from Numbuh 2's player, a large green mutated lizard monster of some sort. Bruce gritted his teeth as he mashed down a light green button imbedded in the blocky controller he held. The Delightfuls own purple scaled, mutated lizard character letting forth a plume of flame, aiming to scorch the face of Numbuh 2's lizard as the Delightfuls let smirks cross their face's as victory would surely be theirs. But much to their horror Numbuh 2's lizard leapt aside from the jet of flame at the last second, enabling it to deal a life draining blow with its massive scaly tail, their health dropping down to zero.

"Player 2 wins!"A male announcer cried from the t.v screen, the sentence also being displayed in huge glaring, cherry red letters across the screen as if to mock the 5 children. The Delightfuls immediately went slack jawed as they looked up at the wide screen t.v but tore their eyes away as victorious laughter burst out from beside them. They growled lightly as they looked over to see Hoagie sure enough, laughing at yet another victory on his part. "Hah! In your face Delightful Dorks!"He cried, causing the 5 children to moodily huff in annoyance and cross their arms over their chests, the blocky game controller landing in Bruce's lap.

The 6 children had been dueling for several matches now, each one leading to humiliating defeats just when the DC thought for sure they would be the victors. Numbuh 2 had set up the game console in the living room and snacks had been laid out on the table in front of the worn out blue couch that the 6 children currently sat on. Set at an angle that gave a perfect view of the t.v infront of them. They huffed moodily, their glassy light blue eyes narrowing. "Oh, just laugh it up Hoagie"They snapped in annoyance, picking up their fruit juice boxes and fixing the bendy straws that poked out of them, sipping at the sweet red colored drink that filled the small yellow and red drink box. "Oh don't be such spoil sports"Numbuh 2 chortled, picking up an unopened bottle of Triple Pop soda that sat nearby, condensation trickling down the smooth glass container and giving one a clear view of the orange drink within. He lifted up a 2x4 bottle opener and popped the cap off with ease, a little bit of fizz spilling out over the rim. "Besides, your just upset that you can't beat me is all"Numbuh 2 proclaimed with a cheeky smirk, taking a swig of carbonated goodness once he finished talking.

"Rematch"The Delightfuls stated pensively, glaring over at the operative as they stoically nibbled at their chocolate chip cookies they had just plucked from the plastic wrapping from the opened box nearby, crumbs dotting their chins as they chewed, which they quickly brushed away with their free hands. "Alright"Numbuh 2 spoke as he continued to smirk, setting his bottle down beside a bag of opened tortilla chips and picking his own controller back up and pressing a red button his controller. "Begin Match!"The male announcer voice loudly proclaimed, the exact words also displayed across the screen and quickly vanishing as the game resumed, the 2 lizards emerging from the opposite sides of the screen as the fight began.

Bruce rapidly toggled his joystick to make their lizard charge forward, smacking Numbuh 2's lizard backward, knocking it into a virtual building on the stage and topple to the ground in a plume of smoke and debris. Numbuh 2 frowned as he snapped his joystick upwards, causing his lizard to leap to it's feet and let out a mighty roar as it sprang forward, tackling its purple opponent and resulting in a crazed flurry of kicks and swipes, roars and snarls echoing through the t.v's speakers as the players mercilessly spared off, each determined to be the victor. The Delightfuls had began hastily passing the game controller around amongst them in hopes that shared effort would help them finally win a match, their eyes wide with focus as the battle neared its end, both lizards health equally down to where one blow would end it all. Ashley mashed down a blue button, as the controller was currently in her possession, coupled by a swift twist of the joystick for good measure, making their lizard lunge forward on its clawed hind legs and let out a mighty burst of bright orange flames flow from it's massive serpentine maw in what surely would be a fatal strike.

Time seemed to suddenly slow down to a snails pace as Numbuh 2's eyes widened behind his yellow hued goggles and the operative frantically mashed buttons and toggled his joystick, making his lizard go into a barrell roll and dive beneath the Delightful's lizard as it leapt forward, the operatives lizard flying beneath it and kicking upwards with its clawed hind leg, scraping along it's virtual scaly belly and sending it sailing forward without pause, right into 3 skyscrapers, sending them crumbling to the ground in a flaming heap and once more dropping the DCFDTL's life level down to a blaring Zero, time then seemed to leap forward, once again returning to it's normal speed. Numbuh 2 grinned cheekily over at the 5 children that were sitting frozen and still as statues beside him, their glassy light blue eyes wide, and unblinking. Suddenly they trembled slightly as an uncontrollable mix of rage and frustration welled up inside them and they let out loud cries of unbridled anger and Bruce held the controller high above his head and promptly chucked it clear across the room with such speeds that it crashed into the glass t.v screen, shattering a section where it's joystick imbedded in the screen, cracks already forming in the translucent monitor.

Numbuh 2's eyes went wide it shock, and then felt the beginnings of anger begin to build in him just as the Delightfuls anger went as soon as it had arrived. They slowly looked over at him, sharing nervous chuckles and gulping softly as the pilot of the sector slowly turned his head to face them with a stoic expression on his face, one that usually led anyone to know that anger could follow in any second. The Delightful's nervous smiles grew wider as they raced to come up with a distraction. "Oh goodness!"They suddenly cried, pointing to the opposite side of the room with great enthusiasm. "Is that Cree?!"They cried in mock shock, knowing full well of the operatives crush on the teen, and was only further established as Numbuh 2 immediately went starry eyed as he whipped his head around in a useless search. "Where!?"He shouted, too immersed in his search for the teen ninja to feel the slight breeze of the Delightfuls hightailing it out of the living room while the going was good, or the cookie box once again being knocked over onto the floor.

Transmission Interrupted...

Connection Re-Established

Transmission Continuing...

The Delightful Children from down the Lane gasped as they ran as fast and as safely as you could run while maintaining a group formation anyway, nearly smacking it the tree branches that haphazardly seemed to jut out of nearly every hallway in the tree house, wanting to put enough distance between the living room and themselves as they possibly could. They ran as long as they possibly could, that is, until they felt their lungs begin to burn, demanding air. The 5 children obeyed, coming to a halt right in front of a door frame to catch their breath. Their shoulders slouched as they took in much needed gulps of air, feeling as if they had gotten enough exercise in these last few hours to last them a week. Their hearts were currently pounding with enough force to where they feared their rib cages would splinter from the heightened pressure the organ was creating in their chests.

After their heart rates returned to more manageable levels the 5 children slowly looked around, looking through the doorway they were currently standing in and felt their curiosity heighten as they tentatively stepped into the room, letting their collective gaze wander. The room was quite large and the ceilings were higher than the hallway had been. Curiously enough the room really didn't contain much, as a wrestling ring filled much of it, a larger tree limb with a larger clump of foliage broke through the center of the padded area, and as they got closer they could see that steps had been carved into the base of the trunk, allowing one access to the various, smaller limbs that jutted out of the branch. Some of the limbs sprawled across the ring, obscuring their view of the furthermost corner. They paused and opened their mouths to speak up to see if the room was currently occupied, the words however, twisted themselves up, and bubbled up their throats as merely a shocked yelp as a loud "HIYYYAAAH!"Pierced the still air, followed by the sound of crunching wood and the dull thud of a pail hitting the padded floor of the ring.

The Delightful Children glanced up at one another with growing curiosity and a pretty good idea of who's room this was as they approached the ring and crawled under the bands running around the rectangular area. Their footsteps were muffled as they wandered around the obscuring branch and were met by what seemed to be a make-shift training setup.

Several practice dummy's were imbedded in the soft material of the ring, their skeletal frames made up of various wooden planks and twisted silver nails that certainly weren't at the safest angles, buckets were perched atop them,and crudely painted mismatched facial features were scrawled across their dented, rusted exteriors. One was currently headless, the bucket that once served as its head sat a few feet away, a large, foot shaped indent clearly visible in the front of it, and in the middle of the circle of dummies, was Numbuh 4. The short blonde Australian currently had his back to them and looked as if he was currently preparing to deliver another vicious kick to a dummy.

The 5 children smirked, deciding to startle the unsuspecting operative. "Hmm, that's a rather easy method of getting a splinter Wallabee, quite intelligent if we do say so ourselves"They droned loudly together, sarcasm laced throughout their monotone as wide smirks spread across their pale features as they eagerly awaited the incoming surprise. "AIIIEEEE!"Numbuh 4 cried as he leapt into the air, latching onto the tireswing that hung from a branch overhead, his arms and legs wrapping tightly around the bumpy exterior of the tire, the swing quivering from the speed of his jump and from the lightly trembling operative himself.

Numbuh 4 frowned as he slowly looked down to see the Delightfuls grinning back at him so broadly, and yet so smugly, that you could swear that they had won the Villain of the Year Award. Numbuh 4 scowled and detached his arms, hopping off the tire and hitting the floor with a dull smack. "Heh, I knew it was you creeps all along"He muttered with an air of annoyance, brushing imaginary dust of his orange hoodie with one hand as if to seem nonchalant. The Delightfuls settled on smug smirks, allowing their face muscles to relax from the broad grins that had just spread across them. "Oh, of course you did Wallabee"They chimed, yet again sounding quite sarcastic.

"Yeah, and don't you dorks forget it! And I suppose you guys are here so I can edumucate you on how to be normal right?"Numbuh 4 retorted, clearly not wanting to drop the usual streak of insults he bestowed on the goody goody children whenever they talked. "It's educate Wallabee"The Delightful Children corrected, feeling their skin crawl at the improper spelling. "Whatever! Do you want me to show you or not?!"Numbuh 4 snapped in annoyance, wildly waving his arms around, the breeze created ruffling the top of his blonde hair. The Delightfuls nodded lightly, reassuming their usual calm facial expressions. "Yes..Please"They droned, feeling a sour taste briefly pass through their mouths from being even momentarily respectful towards the unruly Australian. "Alright then.."Numbuh 4 huffed, putting his hands in his jean pockets as he looked up at the 5 children.

"So, first off, kids normally know how to defend themselves, their not mamby pamby and use giant robots or bodyguards to protect them. They use their physical strength"Numbuh 4 rattled off, obviously having quite a bit of knowledge in this area. The Delightfuls felt their insides twist up in distaste at the suggestion. "But physical fighting is so..uncivilized"The Delightfuls droned unhappily, small frowns spreading across their faces.

Numbuh 4 scowled, going to reprimand them until an idea to switch tactics burst forth in his brain instead. "Oh yeahhh, I forgot, you dorks probably suck at fighting, your just a bunch of wimps"He snickered, masking how clever he felt at that moment. The Delightfuls took the bait, feeling their faces slightly heat up from the insult. "We do not! We just prefer not to"They chimed truthfully, crossing their arms over their chests and glaring down at the child. "Prove it then"Numbuh 4 challenged with a sly smirk, lightly gesturing to the training dummies behind him. The Delightfuls growled softly in their throats and stormed past him, rolling their sleeves up ever so slightly as they did so. Numbuh 4 smirked, muttering "reverse psychologist" under his breath as he slowly turned around to watch.

The Delightful Children stopped in the center of the dummies and took a slow deep breath in unison as they allowed their eyes to briefly slip shut, then snap back open as they let out loud, anger fueled cry's. Launching themselves at a nearby dummy and striking it with their feet, uprooting it in the process and sending it spiraling across the ring. The dropped down to the padded floor, feeling adrenaline begin to course through their veins, for some reason this just felt..right. They giggled lightly, then smirked, charging at another nearby dummy and pummeling it with their fists, loud clangs permeated the air as its metal bucket head was reduced to a crushed can, and its skeletal wooden body reduced to a pile of snapped boards. The Delightfuls however, were not done yet as they each picked up a plank and spread out into a straight line, turning back around while a wide-eyed Numbuh 4 looked on to the destruction. With one last, loud cry of battle the 5 children charged forward at the remaining dummies, bashing them with one collective, swift stroke, their can heads flying across the room and thunking against the floor. Each rolling to a stop at Numbuh 4's feet, causing the Australian to back away slightly, leaning up against the thick trunk of the tree that grew up out of the ground. "Whoahhh.."He spoke aloud in clear amazement.

The Delightfuls panted as the sudden rush of adrenaline ebbed away, though their current weariness did little to diminish the great smug, satisfaction they currently felt as they smirked over at the operative. "Told you"They droned as they lightly panted, stepping back into group formation, soft clicks intermingling with each softening pant they exhaled. Numbuh 4 smirked. "Well, maybe you dorks aren't that wimpy"The Australian spoke with a soft smirk, going to push off the tree and gagging slightly as his hoodie was snagged on a dusty lever imbedded in the wood, after a few tugs the operative managed to get free, and tugged the lever down in the process, a dull click sounding out as the blonde operative lightly rubbed at his sore next, bitterly looking over at the lever, his eyes immediately widening as he realized what it was.

"Aww crud.."He mumbled out, yelping as the floor suddenly started rumbling, the canopy of leaves above shaking with loud rustles. The Delightfuls yelped aloud in unison as they shuddered from the shaking floor below, stepping around to maintain their footing. "Wallabee! What did you do!?"They cried accusingly as they tried to get over to the operative through the quaking, only to have their question answered as a panel suddenly pulled upwards in the massive tree trunk, seeming to be built into the wood itself, cobwebs and dust whooshing out in a cloud, causing the 6 children to cough as sunlight trickled into the large hollowed out expanse, revealing an enormous robot sitting inside that highly resembled the training dummies, only much, much bigger, multicolored wires woven around its wooden armature frame, and arms and legs constructed from rusted metal, clunky in craftsmanship but it appeared to be moveable. The Delightfuls looked with widened eyes, but a shared look of perplexion also settled onto their pale features. "What is that thing Wallabee?"They spoke in demanding monotone, their insistence mostly fueled by their confusion. Numbuh 4 gulped as he had frozen up perfectly still, his eyes flickering over to the side to look at them. "It's an advanced training robot, Numbuh 2 built it, but it's too buggy to use"Numbuh 4 spoke slowly, his eyes flickering back up to the robot above. "How so?"The Delightfuls inquired. "It's wiring's all messed up, its motion detector thingy sets it off at random times and it's unstable and stuff..so whatever you do, don't move a muscle"Numbuh 4 spoke in a harsh whisper. "But-"The DC went to argue only to be cut off by a sharp "Sshhh!"From the frozen operative. The 5 children frowned, but complied. But the dust floating around in the air seemed to have other plans as it began to mess with their noses, a fuzzy sensation of a sneeze beginning to grow as they desperately tried to hold it in, to no avail. "Achoo!"They sneezed together into their quickly raised elbows, the motion causing the robots light bulb eyes to switch on as it rumbled to life.

"Training Mode initiated"A mechanical voice thundered, violently shaking the small branches on the trunk that surrounded it. "I told you not to move!"Numbuh 4 shouted in horror. "We couldn't help it!"The Delightfuls shouted back. The robot meanwhile whirred to further mobility, its gears shifting as it lifted its massive leg. The Delightfuls looked up with horrified expressions, like deers caught in headlights. Numbuh 4's eyes widened beneath his bangs as he leaped forward and tackled them to the side right as the metal capped wooden foot made impact with the wrestling ring with a muffled tremor. The 6 children went tumbling in a heap across the ring before halting as a band surrounding the ring stopped them, letting out a soft twang on impact as they landed on their backs.

Numbuh 4 groaned as he squirmed out from beneath them, getting to his feet quickly. "Are you dorks nuts?! That thing would've squashed you in a second!"He shouted, panting lightly from shoving them aside. The Delightfuls, slightly traumatized from that thought, lightly shivered as they looked up at the australian with frightened expressions, causing the Australians own angered expression to soften slightly. "Were sorry Wallabee.."They apologized in weak monotone, they had plenty experience with robots, but had never really been on the receiving end of the panic and destruction that they were capable of causing, something that was presently filling them with a rare sense of terror.

Numbuh 4 blinked a few times. "Alright, Alright, just don't..look at me like that.."The Australian grumbled as he held his hand out to them, each of them grabbing onto his arm and pulling themselves up to their feet. They frowned and opened their mouths to speak when a dark shadow passed over them as they robot prepared to take another step. Letting out terrified yelps as they dashed to the side, Numbuh 4 in quick pursuit. The 6 children stumbled at the slight shock waves that coursed through the padded floor as they robots foot met the padded material once more. "Alright, so the only way to disarm this thing is to gum up it's battery pack"Numbuh 4 suddenly spoke as he looked up at the towering mech, it's side currently facing them.

"Where's that?"The Delightfuls spoke nervously, looking the robot over with their pale blue eyes. "It's in its back, but the only way to reach that is if you climb up there"Numbuh 4 responded as he looked back over at them. "How are we supposed to reach it?"The DC inquired with small frowns. Numbuh 4 smirked as he went over to a pole that anchored the bands that circled the wrestling ring and opened up a hatch, some 2x4 technology stored inside. "Oh, you guys don't have to get it, I will"Numbuh 4 assured them as he pulled out a m.u.s.k.e.t. The Delightfuls began to breathe as sigh of relief, "Because you Delightfuls are gonna stay down here and distract it while I climb up its back!"The Australian gleefully declared, causing their breath to hitch in their throats as their eyes widened. "But h-how are we supposed to defend ourselves?!"They cried in horror. Numbuh 4 held back a snicker, then sighed as he went back to looking inside the hatch and pulled out a g.u.m.z.o.o.k.a and s.p.i.c.e.r. Tossing the 2 weapons to them, Ashley and Bruce scrambling to catch them and succeeding in doing so, looking down at the oddly constructed weaponry that they were all too familiar with seeing, but not so much in working. "Ummm, how do you use these 'things'?"They spoke, trying to hide their disdain for having to use such childish means of defense.

Numbuh 4 groaned, flinching visibly as another tremor shook the wrestling ring as the robot went to turn around back towards them, letting out a robotic whir. "Just press the triggers!"Numbuh 4 shouted in exasperation, pointing to the triggers on the underside of each one. "Target acquired"A robotic voice thundered, causing Numbuh 4 to jump. "Quick! Distract it!"He shouted, darting behind the robots enormous leg, causing the robots metal can head to slowly swivel as it tried to follow him. The Delightfuls blinked and Bruce held the g.u.m.z.o.o.k.a up high, pressing down the trigger and loosing a volley of brightly colored gumballs, pattering against the can head of the robot in a succession of loud pinging. "Hey! Mechanical Monstrosity! Down here!"The 5 children shouted, causing the training robot to let out a shrill buzz as it looked down, its now even more dented can head swiveling back around, its red eyes flashing. The Delightfuls smirked, and in an incredibly childish display of taunting, stuck out their tongues. "Nyeeeehhh!"They teased with their tongues still extended. That did the trick as the robot let out another shrill buzz, this time in anger it seemed as it lurched forward in an attempt to catch them. The 5 children smirked as they closed their mouths and darted away, Bruce spinning the g.u.m.z.o.o.k.a around in his hand as they began running in wild circles, as fast as their group formation allowed them to, around the robot, a flurry of gumballs beginning to hit its wooden frame and can head, becoming more and more dented by the second, much to the robots chagrin.

Numbuh 4 chuckled as he scaled the robots back, wishing he had a tape recorder right now, but his eyes narrowed in determination as he got closer and closer to the metal panel imbedded in the back of the robots nearly entirely wooden body, his white sneakers digging into the wooden notches on its back. Periodically wincing every time the robot let out another infuriated buzz at its unsuccessful luck at trying to destroy the increasingly bothersome children below. "Oh, were sure you can do better than that~!"The Delightfuls called out in sing-song monotone, breaking into a chorus of giggles as Bruce and Ashley lined their 2x4 tech up, using the s.p.i.c.e.r's heat lazer to alight the gumballs, making for twice the destructive impact. The robot beeped in panic as it reeled back, it's wooden chest now riddled with flaming candy, the flames nipping hungrily at the dry wood. Numbuh 4 yelped as he saw this, scrambling faster up the backside of the robot as he know knew time was of the essence.

He latched onto the handle that opened up the battery pack and anchored his feet against the panel and kicking outwards, the door whooshing out and releasing a cloud of dust. The Australian coughed loudly and fanned away the dust with his free hand, yelping the hand gripping the rusty handle became slick with sweat, causing him to scramble to grab it again. The blonde operative let out a relieve sigh as he reestablished his grip, then quickly swung his body to the side, landing on his bottom in the inner workings of the robot, a humming sound filling his ears as he quickly got back to his feet and spit out the m.u.s.k.e.t that had been clamped down firmly by his teeth while he climbed.

Spitting a little at the bitter taste of mustard still lingering on his tongue as he stormed over to the control panel, mismatched wires wove over and around a giant battery in the robots back, the occasional spark leaping off and burning out against the bumpy metal floor, a slight hint of smoke on the air alerting him that he had to work fast. With a confident smirk he raised up his mustard gun and let loose shot after shot of the bright yellow condiment, coating the wires in the stuff, the sparks began increasingly to dangerous levels as the robot lurched from side to side as the inner workings were gummed up in the barrage of pungent mustard paste. "Core meltdown initiated"The robot announced in a fizzling voice as the wires began to smoke. Numbuh 4 yelped as he rushed out, tossing the emptied gun out the back of the open door as he leapt out, latching onto the section of the leg that wasn't ablaze as the robot capsized forward. "Timberrr!"The Australian cried as it struck the ground with a mighty crash of timbers and metal. Bright green fire hoses extended out of the tree houses ceilings throughout every room, acting as a sprinkler system and dousing the felled robot below along with every other room, hissing clouds of mist extending to the ceiling above as the fires on the main target were extinguished...

"Sooo, Run this by Numbuh 5 one more time, you accidentally pulled down the lever and let out that crazy training robot that Numbuh 2 was supposed to get rid of, and after deactivating it, you were careless enough to let it remain on fire long enough to turn the treehouse into a swimmin' pool?!"Numbuh 5 shouted in exasperation as she wrung out her sopping wet braid as she stared down Numbuh 4, currently trying to wring out his sopping wet hoodie. The sprinkler system had filled the treehouse with a sizeable quantity of water, which thankfully had drained out of the many open window s the structure possessed, but had left much of the interior, including its occupants, sopping wet. "Well that's what I've been telling you! Besides, how else was I supposed to get rid of the fire if the sprinkler system didn't go off?"The Australian retorted in annoyance, and a few seconds after wards a fountain of water was unceremoniously dumped on his head from above. "Hey!"He coughed as he shook around like a wet dog, spraying water over all that stood nearby. "Hey! Watch it Wallabee!"The Delightfuls shouted as the spray of water hit them. The 5 children were also currently trying to wring their own clothing and hair dry.

Numbuh 4 frowned angrily as he looked up at Lenny, the tan skinned Delightful was currently dumping the water out his helmet, which had been partially filled with water thanks to the sprinklers, and the operative had just so happened to be in range when he had done so. The blonde haired operative silently scowled at him, Lenny looked down at him, his arms extended as the last drops of water dripped out of his red and white football helmet, a sheepish, yet vaguely smug smirk on his face, a few stray drops of water trickling off the silver mouth-brace that wound around his head.

The Delightful quickly put the helmet back on, obscuring his face once more, save for his eyes of course. The operative huffed softly in anger as he turned back around. "And Numbuh 5 is still wondering why Numbuh 2 didn't just keep it in his room and dismantle it in there"Numbuh 5 spoke in annoyance as she looked over at the pilot in question, who flashed her a sheepish grin. "Umm well about that.. at the time there really wasn't enough room in my room and after a few weeks we sort of well..forgot about it?"He sheepishly chuckled.

Numbuh 1 let out a sigh from where he stood nearby, his eyebrows narrowing from behind his water speckled sunglasses. "Regardless Numbuh 2, this whole mess would have been easily avoided if you had remembered to dismantle that crazy thing"The sector leader reprimanded. Numbuh 2 frowned. "Hey, I'm not the one who pulled the lever!"He complained, shooting an annoyed look at Numbuh 4, who merely stuck his tongue out at him, currently annoyed with all the blame currently being placed on him. A chorus of throat clearing interrupted the children's little spat however, and all eyes settled on the Delightfuls, who shared slight smiles, their hands currently clasped behind their backs.

"Ah yeah, sorry about this whole mess Delightful Dorks"Numbuh 5 apologized, adding in 'dorks' in a more casual way than she normally used it. "Oh, it's quite alright Abigail, we think this day has proved to be quite educational for us"They chuckled lightly in their eerie monotone, then hummed softly as if a thought had just occurred to them. "Infact.."The trailed off, and without warning moved forward and pulled all 5 of the unsuspecting operatives into a group hugs. Each one displaying a different reaction to this unheard of act of the Delightful Children's part. Numbuh 3 smiled and giggled, clearly having no problem with it at all, Numbuh 2's eyes were wide beneath his yellow tinted goggles in clear shock, Numbuh 4 scowled, looking as if he wanted to squirm away and kick them at any second, Numbuh 5 had a weak smile on her face, and lastly, Numbuh 1's coal colored eyes were equally wide, his eyebrows highly raised above his his eyes, a look of immense confusion on his face. The Delightfuls chuckled as they lightly patted the operatives backs and then released them from the group hug, sharing collective smiles. "Thank You"They finished, sharing another round of eerie giggles, obviously enjoying the 5 children's reactions. "Eughhh! They got their dorkiness allover me!"Numbuh 4 complained, spitting some at the hardwood floor. Numbuh 2 simply frowned. Numbuh 3 giggled, thinking hugs were nice no matter who gave them. Numbuh 5 still wore a waveringly weak smile. "Umm, Your welcome"She chuckled nervously. And Numbuh 1 stood perfectly still as he stared over at the goody goody quintet, his eyebrows still raised as the sector leader clearly didn't know what to make of what had just happened, expecting all of his teamates to explode right then and there from the semblance show of friendliness from the Delightful Children.

The Delightfuls sighed as their giggles subsided. "Well, we'd love to umm, 'hang around', but our curfew is approaching, so for now, buh bye, Kids Next Dumb"The 5 children droned with slight smirks as they purposefully strode out of the room, heading out of the bedroom and down the hallway towards the main elevator, small smirks playing across their lips. Meanwhile Sector V was still standing wordlessly in Numbuh 4's room, until Kuki suddenly rested her eyes on Numbuh 4's back, a grin spreading across her face as she sneaked up behind the unsuspecting Australian. "Well, maybe those dorks have a little good in them..."Numbuh 1 mostly mused aloud to himself, adjusting his sunglasses with a small frown crossing his face.

"Acckk!"Numbuh 4 suddenly cried as Numbuh 3 playfully kicked his backside, sending him sprawling forward a few steps, rubbing his sore posterior and frowning up at the jubilant black haired operative. "What the heck did you do that for Kuki?!"He spoke in clear agitation. "Cause the sign told me too silly!"Numbuh 3 spoke brightly, extending a green sleeve covered finger and pointing it to his backside. "Sign?!"Numbuh 4 shouted, patting his back and ripping off a slightly damp sheet of paper. Numbuh 1 blinked, doing the same and pulling an also damp sheet of paper and holding it up to eye level, arching an eyebrow at what was written on it in neat, flowing cursive 'KICK ME' The sector leader allowed a combination of a frown and a curious smirk to ghost along his lips. "Or maybe they just like playing jokes"The sector leader sighed with a roll of his coal colored eyes, faint amusement lacing his visible accent nevertheless. And just then, further down the treehouse hallways there was the echo of the unmistakable sound of an eerie, yet triumphant chorus of laughter, intermingling with the hums and whirs of the treehouse elevator as it descended.

End Transmission


End file.
